From police superintendent in four districts of Odisha to interim CBI chief: All you need to know about M Nageshwar Rao

The central government on Wednesday appointed M Nageshwar Rao as the interim chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), amid ongoing scuffles between the two topmost officers of the investigation agency.

File image of CBI interim chief M Nageshwar Rao. Twitter

Hailing from Borenarsapur village from Telangana's Warangal district, Mannem Nageshwar Rao is a 1986 batch IPS officer of the Odisha cadre. Besides serving as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in four districts of Odisha — Mayurbhanj, Nabarangapur, Bargarh and Jagatsinghpur — he was also SP, Railways at Rourkela and Cuttack, as well as SP of the Crime Branch.

He got his post-graduate degree in chemistry from Osmania University, following which he did research at IIT Madras.

He has also served as the head of the Odisha Fire Service, according to India Today, and hasreceived a chief minister's award for his work during cyclones Phailin (in 2013) and Hudhud (in 2014).

According to NDTV, Rao has earned accolades for the way he handled his first posting in Odisha's Talcher, an area which is notorious for coal smuggling. He was also credited with effective anti-insurgency operations in Manipur, having been deputed as DIG (Operations) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

According to reports, he was the first officer in Odisha to use DNA fingerprinting to solve a rape case in Jagatsinghpur district in 1996.

Prior to be being appointed interim CBI chief, he held the position of joint director in the CBI. As per a report from The Indian Express, Rao was promoted to additional director this year.

While Rao has been appointed CBI director effective immediately, CBI chief Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana have been sent on leave. The decision comes at a time when Verma was at loggerheads with Asthana, who was booked by the chief investigative agency in an alleged bribery case. Asthana was also stripped off from all his roles and responsibilities at the agency on Tuesday.